Apparatus for making molds



Sept. 8, 1936. J LUTON APPARATUS FOR MAKING MOLDS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 25, 1935 INVENTOR.

Jo/m Luzon. 4

Sept. 8,1936. J, UTON 2,053,963

APPARATUS FOR MAKING MOLDS Filed July 25, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Jb/m Zuzon.

Patented Sept. 8, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR MAKING MOLDS Application July 25, 1933, Serial No. 682,140

7 Claims.

This invention relates to the art of founding, and particularly to apparatus for making molds from sand or the like for casting in metal.

It is one of the objects of this invention to provide an improved apparatus and method for producing molds by which a saving in the time and/or in the labor costs thereof as compared to prior methods and apparatus may be effected.

7 Another object is to provide an apparatus and method for producing molds in which a division of labor may be effected, in an improved manner, the necessary operations to produce the molds being divided among a plurality of laborers instead of all being performed successively by a single laborer.

Another object is to provide an apparatus and method for producing molds wherein molds may be produced in an improved manner by relatively unskilled labor, or by labor less skilled than has heretofore been necessary.

Another object is to provide an apparatus and method for producing molds whereby the making of molds may be carried on in a continuously repeating cycle of operations from a plurality of patterns.

Another object is to provide an apparatus for making molds according to an improved method, which apparatus will be simple and cheap to construct; and which will be simple and easy to operate; and which will be eflicient in operation.

Another object is to provide a method and apparatus for making molds of the general class in which a flask and a pattern associated therewith are circulated through a plurality of points or stations in a closed pathway of movement at which stations mold making operations are performed, including jolting the flask and squeezing the flask upon jolting and squeezing machines, and in which the jolting and/or squeezing operations may be performed upon the flask without elevating or depressing the flask from the elevation at which it moves on its pathway of movement through the system. 45 Another object is to provide a molding'apparatus and method of the general class referred to, in which the flasks are circulated through the system on a supporting trackway, and in which the jolting and squeezing operations may be performed on the flasks without transmitting the shock of jolting or the pressure of squeezing to the trackway, and without the necessity of elevating or depressing the flask from its elevation on the trackway at the jolter and squeezer 55 mechanisms.

Another object is to provide an improved trackway' construction for use in mold making apparatus and methods of the general class referred to.

Another object is to provide an improved car- 6 rier construction for circulating flasks through an apparatus and method of the general class referred to.

Other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which my invention appertains. 10

My invention is fully disclosed in the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view, in some respects diagrammatic, of an apparatus embodying my invention 15 in one form;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view to an enlarged scale, taken from the plane 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view to an enlarged scale, taken from plane 3 of Fig. 1; 20

Fig. 4 is a sectional view to an enlarged scale,

taken from plane 4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view to an enlarged scale,

taken from plane 5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to part of Fig. 5, illustrating a modification;

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 1, illustrating a modification;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view to an enlarged scale, taken from plane 8 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view to an enlarged scale, taken from plane 9 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 10 is a sectional view to an enlarged scale, taken from plane In of Fig. 7; 35

Fig. 11 is a sectional view to an enlarged scale, taken from plane ll of Fig. 7, and with parts broken away to simplify the view;

Fig. 12 is a view taken from plane I2l2 of Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary sectional view taken from plane l3l3 of Fig. 9;

Fig. 14 is a fragmentary view to an enlarged scale, taken from plane M of Fig. 1.

This application is a continuation of my 00- pending application Serial No. 501,844, filed December 12, 1930, for improvements in Methods and apparatus for making molds, and reference may be had thereto for a more complete description of certain parts which will hereinafter be 60 briefly described.

Referring to the drawings of Fig. 1, I have shown generally at I a trackway comprising inner and outer rails 2 and 3 preferably formed from angle iron comprising a vertical flange constituting a rail proper and a horizontal flange for mounting the rails upon and securing them to a plurality of longitudinally spaced tressels 4-4.

The tressels may be of any suitable construction; for example, they may be constructed from steel sections such as angle irons as indicated in Fig. 14.

The rails 2 and 3 are preferably bent into the form of a circle to constitute a circular track- Way I.

A plurality of carriages, illustrated generally at 5, is provided to move around the circular trackway. The carriages comprise a bed 6 having on the underside thereof a plurality such as four wheels 1'I for rolling upon the rails 2 and 3.

A plurality of flasks is provided for the mold making operation, preferably one for each carriage 5, and are adapted to be supported on the bed 6. The flasks comprise a drag portion 8, a cope portion 9, and a pattern in, these parts being adapted to be assembled together to dispose the pattern between the flask portions in a well known manner. One form of construction is more completely illustrated and described in the above mentioned copending application.

A description of other parts of the apparatus may best be described in connection with the following description of a mode of operation thereof.

Referring to Fig. 1, one of the carriages provided with a pattern and the two parts of the flask, is started around the circular trackway from a starting point or station, such as that indicated at H in Fig. 1. The flask and pattern are disposed upon a carriage bed 6, as illustrated in Fig. 2, and the carriage is moved to a station indicated at I2. A sand hopper l3 having a spout M is disposed over the station l2. The mouth of the spout I4 is closed by a pair of gates l5l5, adapted to be opened and closed by an operating lever l6.

An operator stationed at the station l2 may now open the gates l5--l5 and allow sand to fall from the hopper into the drag flask portion 8, as shown in Fig. 2, shutting oif the flow of sand when a suitable amount has been deposited in the flask.

The operator then picks up a follow-board IT, a supply of which is provided in a pile I8 adjacent the station l2. The follow-board is laid upon the sand in the drag flask 8, as illustrated in Fig. 3.

The operator then moves the carriage to the position I 9 of Fig. 1, laterally of which is disposed a jolting machine 20. The jolting machine 20 may in general be of any well known or suitable construction, comprising a head 2| which may be given the well known jolting movement upon admission of air through a hose 22 to a jolting control mechanism, indicated generally at 23, upon the operation of a foot pedal 24.

In the form shown in the drawing, the jolting head 2! is provided with a bed 25, the upper surface 26 of which is disposed at the level of the upper surface 21 of the carriage bed 6. In correspondence with the circular movement of the carriage relative to the jolter mechanism, the bed 6 and the jolter bed 25 may have respectively concave and convex edges, as shown in Fig. 1, whereby the clearance between the same may be maintained at the minimum, and the beds of the jolter and the carriage may be provided with confronting beveled surfaces 28 and 29 at their adjacent curved edges.

When the carriage is moved to the station I9, Fig. l, with sand in the drag flask portion, the flask is moved or slid by an operator at that station from the carriage bed 6 over to and upon the jolter bed 25 to the position indicated in broken lines at 35, Fig. 3. The small clearance 3! between the beds, and the beveled edges 28 and 29 above described, permit this operation to be performed with ease and efliciency.

The jolter mechanism 20 is then operated to jolt the sand in the drag flask for the well known purpose, and after the jolting operation is complete, the flask is moved back again from the bed 25 to the bed 6.

The carriage, now supporting the jolted flask, is next moved to the station indicated at 32, Fig. 1, above which station another hopper 33 is provided, having a spout 34 having gates 3535, operable by a lever 36.

The flask, either at the station H9, or between this station and the station 32, is turned upside down and is supported on the bed with the follow-board ll under the flask and with the cope flask portion 9 uppermost.

At the station 32, the lever 36 is operated to fill the cope flask with sand, as shown in Fig. 4.

The carriage is then moved to the station indicated at 35, Fig. l, laterally of which is disposed a squeezer mechanism 36. At this sta tion a sprue mold board 37 is taken from a pile 38 and placed upon the sand in the cope flask 9, as shown in Fig. 5. The flask is now ready to be squeezed and is moved or slid laterally from the bed 6 of the carriage onto the squeezer machine.

In the drawings, two forms of squeezer machine are shown, one shown generally at 36, Fig. 5, and the other shown generally at 40, Fig. 6.

Referring first to the form of Fig. 5, the squeezer machine 35 may be of any suitable or known construction having a movable squeezer head ll and an overhead stationary squeezer head 32, and mechanism operable by compressed air admitted through a line 43, and controlled by a lever or handle 46.

The head G! is preferably provided with a bed 39 thereon, the upper surface 35 of which is on the same level or in a common plane with the upper surface 2? of the carriage bed 6 on which the flasks rest at the station 35'; and the adjacent edges of the beds 6 and 39 of the carriage and squeezer machine, respectively, are curved respectively convex and concave, as shown in Fig. 1, to reduce the clearance therebetween to the minimum, as at 46; and the adjacent edges of the beds are beveled as at 29 and 41.

By this construction, the flask supported on the follow board I? on the bed 6 may be slid laterally over to and upon the bed 39, easily and eiflciently.

The bed 39 may then be raised by the squeezer mechanism to squeeze the flask, as described, the flask in the squeezer mechanism of Fig. 5 being illustrated in broken lines at 48.

When a squeezer machine of the form shown generally at 49, Fig. 6, is employed, the flask may be slid over to and upon the bed 50 thereof, which may be of the same form and. construction as the bed 39 of the form of Fig. 5. In the form of Fig. 6, however, the bed 56 is not elevated to effect the squeezing operation upon the flask. In this squeezer machine, the lower head 5| is stationary and the upper head 52 may be depressed with great pressure or elevated to relieve the pressure, by a cylinder and piston mechanism indicatedat 53 supplied by compressed air through hose conductors 54-.54 which are under the control of a valve mechanism,indicated generally at 55, operable by a valve 56 and supplied with air through a conduit 51. T

Upon operating the. lever 56, the head 52 will be forcibly depressed to squeeze the sand in the flask, shown generally at '58, between. the head 52 and the bed 50.

After the squeezing operation has been performed, by either of the machines illustrated'in Fig. or Fig. 6, the squeezed flask is returned to the bed 6 by sliding it thereonto, and the car- .riage is then moved to a disassembling and pattern removing station indicated at 59. At this station the two parts of the flask are separated, the pattern is removed, the sprue mold is made or completed, the mold with the pattern removed is completed by reassembling. the flask portions, and the cope and drag flask portions, preferably being of the snap flask form, are removed from the mold leaving it resting upon the follow board I! upon the carriage bed.

An operator then picks up the follow board I1 and carries away the mold thereon to .a pouring floor, and the two parts of the flask and the pattern are reassembled and returned to .the carriage bed, the parts. appearing as in Fig. 14.

The flask, pattern, and carriage are now ready to repeat the cycle above described, and the carriage is returned to they station H, which is the starting station.

The sprue mold board 37, which was introduced into the system just prior to the squeez- ,ing operation, is removed from the flask after the squeezing operation and returned to the pile 38.

The above briefly described operations of removing the pattern and the flasks from the mold are more completely described in the above referred to copending application.

It will be observed that at the jolting machine 26 and at the squeezing machine of the form of Fig. 6, the flask is jolted and squeezed, respectively, without elevating .it, and likewise without depressing it, from substantiallyv the level of the carriage bed upon which it travels from station to station on the trackway. This results from disposing the jolting and squeezing machines laterally of the trackway.

I In the above referred to .pendingapplication, the jolting and squeezing machines are disposed with their operating heads substantially on the center line of the trackway and thus provision must be made to elevate the .flask above. the trackway before performing the jolting orsqueezing operations, in order that the-shock of jolting or the pressure of squeezing the flask may not be transmitted to the carriages or trackway.

The carriages are preferably provided with wheels or rollers having anti-friction bearings and such shock or pressure would rapidly deteriorate or destroy the same; and the trackway itself would have to be constructed of massive elements to withstand. such pressure and shock.

In the instant application, removal of the flask laterally from the carriage before jolting or squeezing it obviates the necessity of the provisions of the aforesaid application herein referred. to.

Again, in the aforesaid application, in order that the head of the jolter or squeezer may operate between the rails of the trackway, the car.- riage must be provided with means to permit the heads to operate. upwardly. therethrough;

Such provision also is not necessary in the apparatus of the instant application, due to shifting the flask laterally from the carriage before performing the jolting or squeezing operations.

The form of squeezer of Fig. 6 is the preferred form herein, inasmuch as it dispenses both with the necessity for. elevating the flask from the trackwayand the necessity of providing a passageway up through the carriage. The form of squeezer of Fig. 5 may be used if desired.

Inthe drawings, the jolter is illustrated as on the inside of the circular trackway, and the squeezer as on the outside. This has been done to illustrate the alternative possible location of these machines. Either or both machines may be placed inside the circle or outside the circle, as may be dictated by the convenience of access thereto by the operators, the diameter of the trackway, and other collateral considerations.

Referring to Figs. 7 to 13 inclusive, I have illustrated a modification of trackway and carriage by which the invention may be practiced.

In this form, the trackway comprises a rail 60 disposed relatively near the ground or floor, and a rail 6| spaced vertically and laterally, preferably inwardly radially, therefrom. The rails 60-6l may be of T-section, and may have their bases 62 and 63 embedded in a base of concrete 64.

. The carriage shown generally at 65 comprises a horizontally disposed apron 66, 2. depending leg 67, and a bed 68 hinged to the carriage 65 at 69. The apron 66 has a pair of wheels 10-16 resting upon the rail 6| and the depending leg 6'! has at the lower end thereof a wheel or roller H engaging the inner lateral portion of thev rail 60. The bed 68 has an overhanging portion 12 overhanging the rail 6| and is preferably of sufiicient weight to cause the entire carriage and bed to tend to rock clockwise around the rail 6|, thus holding the roller 12 against the rail 60. A spring 13 secured at one end to a rearwardly extending tail piece M of the bed 68 and connected at the opposite end to the leg 61, counter-balances weight of the bed 68. An adjustable stop screw 15 in the tail piece 14 adapted to abut a shoulder 16 on the leg 61, limits clockwise rotational movement of the bed 68.

Inthe operation of the form of Figs. 7 to 13 inclusive, the flask illustrated generally at 1! is first placed upon the overhanging bed portion 12 at a starting station 78, Fig. 7, and the carriage thus supporting the flask is moved around the circular trackway to a drag flask filling station 80, at which it is filled with sand from a hopper 8!. The carriage is then moved on to the jolting station 82, illustrated generally in Fig. 9.

A jolter machine, indicated generally 83 at this station, has a head 85 upon which the overhanging bed 12 rests. Upon operating the jolter machine, the bed portion 12 is jolted and the jolts are transmitted to the flask in the well known manner, and as'was described in connection with the first described form herein.

Preferably, the flask is neither elevated nor depressed in depositing it upon the jolter head 64, and this may be accomplished in the following manner. At the jolter station 82, the track rail 6| is provided with a relieved portion 86 formed by cutting away a part of the rail on the upper edge thereof. As the carriage approaches the station, and the overhanging bed portion I2 moves to a position above a portion of the head 84 of. the jolter, the wheels ML-l0 will .roll down into the relieved portion 86, and the overhanging portion 12 will be deposited upon the head 84 and the apron 66 of the carriage 65 will move downwardly providing clearance as shown in Fig. 9 at 85, between the bed 63 and the apron.

During the jolting operation, the jolts upon the bed are not transmitted to the carriage 65, nor therethrough to the wheels 10 and roller H, nor the bearings thereof, with the advantage hereinbefore discussed.

After the jolting operation, the carriage may be moved along to the next station and the wheels T-T0 will ride out of the relieved portion 86 of the rail BI and the apron 66 of the carriage will pick up the bed 68 and support it independently of the head 84 of the jolter.

Thus, as the bed of the carriage approaches and leaves the jolter it may tend to drag on the head 84 thereof, but by adjusting the tension of the counter-balance spring 13, the resultant weight of the flask and bed may be made as small as desired and such drag or friction between the bed and the jolter head may be reduced to a negligible minimum.

. After the flask has been jolted, the carriage may be moved on to a station 81, illustrated in Fig. 10, at which sand from another hopper 88 may be deposited in the flask H, now in its inverted position with the cope portion uppermost. After filling the flask at the station 87 the carriage may be moved on to the squeezing station 89, illustrated in Fig. 11.

The overhanging bed portion '12 may be deposited upon a lower and stationary squeezer head 98 in the manner described in connection with Figs. 9 and 13, for the jolter head 84, and thereafter an upper movable squeezer head 9| may be moved downwardly under pneumatic pressure, as described hereinbefore in connection with Fig. 6, to squeeze the mold in the flask H. The squeezing pressure is not transmitted to the carriage 65, but only to the overhanging portion 12 of the hingedly mounted bed thereof, with the consequent advantages hereinbefore recited.

If desired, an alternative mode of depositing the carriage bed upon the squeezer head, and illustrated in Fig. 12, may be employed. In this form, the squeezer head 92 is provided with an elevated central portion 93 which at the approach and trailing sides thereof is inclined, as at 94 and 95. As the carriage approaches the squeezing station, and the approaching edge portion 98 of the bed portion E2 approaches the jolter head 92, it will ride up over the inclined portion 95 thereof, thus raising it slightly from the apron 6G, and after the squeezing operation has been performed, the opposite edge portion 91 will ride down over the inclined portion 94 of the head, and replace the bed upon the apron.

After the squeezing operation has been performed, the carriage may be moved on to successive stations to remove the pattern and finish the mold, and return the flask and pattern to the starting point as described in the other form.

Again, in the form of Figs. 7 to 13, it will be observed that a construction is provided whereby the necessity is obviated of working the heads of the jolter and squeezer machines upwardly through the carriage, and the necessity is obviated of elevating the flask or jolting or squeezing it, although in connection with Fig. 12, a form is shown whereby this may be done if not objectionable.

While I have shown and described my invention as applied only to the making of molds, it

may be used as a part of a complete system in which molds are made and poured to form cast ings. Such application of my invention is illustrated and described in my copending application Serial No. 682,138, filed July 25, 1933, now matured into Patent No. 2,013,278 dated Sept. 3, 1935.

In either of the forms of my invention shown and described hereinbefore, it will be apparent that any suitable number of operators may be stationed on the inside or on the outside of the trackwayand that the various operations performed may be subdivided among them; and that the flask patterns move continuously through the cycle being used over and over again, and may be described as circulating through the mold making system Without separation. As each operator performs but a single operation, all the operations of making the mold and casting it may be performed with the maximum economy.

My invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described. Many changes in and modifications of the embodiment hereinbefore set forth may be made within the scope and spirit of my invention without sacrificing its advantages.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for making molds, a plurality of flasks each provided with a pattern, a trackway conveyor and a carrier on the trackway comprisinga substantially horizontal bed element upon which any one of the flasks and its pattern may be removably placed and conveyed independently of the others to and supported at each of a plurality of stations serially disposed along the conveying apparatus for performance on the flask and pattern of a succession of mold making operations at the difierent stations, a machine at one of the stations for performing a mold making operation comprising a substantially horizontal bed element for supporting the flask, the bed element of the machine being disposed laterally of and adjacent to and substantially at the same level as the bed element of the carrier, whereby the flask may be transferred to the machine bed element by a lateral sliding movement thereto from the carrier bed element.

2-. In an apparatus for making molds, a plurality of flasks each provided with a pattern, a plurality of flask carriers, comprising a bed upon which any one of the flasks and its pattern may be removably placed, a support upon which the carriers may be moved independently of each other to move the flask and pattern in a closed path of movement, with the flask laterally overhanging the support, a plurality of stations serially disposed along the path of movement Whereat a succession of mold making operations may be performed on the flask and pattern, a machine at one of the stations for performing a mold making operation on the flask comprising a supporting element for supporting the flask disposed laterally of the carrier support, the flask being movable with the carrier to a position above the flask supporting element, and means to transfer support of the flask from the carrier support to the said flask supporting element substantially without change of elevation of the machine supporting element.

3. In an apparatus for making molds, a plurality of flasks provided each with a pattern, a carrier for each flask, a trackway support upon which the carriers may be moved independently of each other to move the flasks and patterns in a closed path of movement with the flask laterally overhanging the support, a plurality of stations serially disposed along the path of movement whereat a succession of mold making operations may be performed on the flask and pattern, a machine for performing an operation on the flask at one of the stations comprising a supporting element for supporting the flask disposed laterally of the carrier support, the flask being movable with the carrier to a position above the flask supporting element of the machine, and means to effect transfer of support of the flask from the carrier support to the said flask supporting element of the machine substantially without change of elevation of the flask.

4. In an apparatus for making molds, a plurality of flasks provided each with a pattern, a carrier upon which any one of the flasks may removably be placed, a trackway support upon which the carriers may be moved independently of each other to move the flask and pattern in a closed path of movement with the flask laterally overhanging the support, a plurality of stations serially disposed along the path of movement whereat a succession of mold making operations may be performed on the flask and pattern, a machine for performing an operation on the flask at one of the stations comprising a supporting element for supporting the flask disposed laterally of the carrier support, the flask being movable with the carrier to a position above the flask supporting element of the machine, and means to transfer support of the flask from the carrier support to the flask supporting element of the machine substantially without change of elevation of the flask and supporting element of the machine.

5. In an apparatus for making molds, a plurality of flasks each provided with a pattern, a trackway and plurality of carriers comprising each a substantially horizontal bed element upon which any one of the flasks and its pattern may be placed and conveyed independently of the others to and supported at each of a plurality of stations serially disposed along the conveying apparatus for performance on the flask and pattern of a succession of mold making operations at the different stations, a jolting machine at one of the stations for performing a jolting operation comprising a substantially horizontal bed element for supporting the flask, the bed element of the machine being disposed laterally of and adjacent to and substantially at the same level as the bed element of the carrier, whereby the flask may be transferred to the machine bed element by a lateral sliding movement thereto from the carrier bed element.

6. In an apparatus for making molds, a plurality of flasks each provided with a pattern, a trackway and plurality of carriers comprising each a substantially horizontal bed element upon which any one of the flasks and its pattern may be placed and conveyed independently of the others to and supported at each of a plurality of stations serially disposed along the conveying apparatus for performance on the flask and pattern of a succession of mold making operations at the different stations, a squeezing machine at one of the stations for performing a squeezing operation comprising a substantially horizontal bed element for supporting the flask, the bed element of the machine being disposed laterally of and adjacent to and substantially at the same level as the bed element of the carrier, whereby the flasks may be transferred to the machine bed element by a lateral sliding movement thereto from the carrier bed element.

7. In an apparatus for making molds, a plurality of flasks each provided with a pattern, a plurality of flask carriers comprising each a bed upon which any one of the flasks and patterns may be removably placed, a support upon which the carriers may be moved independently of each other to move the flasks and patterns in a closed path of movement, a plurality of stations serially disposed along the path of movement whereat a succession of miold making operations may be performed on the flasks and patterns, a machine at one of the stations for performing a mold making operation on the flasks comprising a supporting element for supporting the flasks disposed laterally of the carrier support, and means for effecting transfer of the support of the flasks from the carrier to the supporting element of the machine, substantially Without changing the elevation of the machine supporting element or flasks.

JOHN LUTON. 

